Destinations

Features

Hotels

Tours

Central American lodges: four of the best

Canopy Lodge, El Valle de Antón, Panama With exceptional birdwatching on your bedroom balcony, it can take longer than you would expect to get up and out for the day when staying at the 12-room Canopy Lodge, which Raúl Arias de Para opened in 2005 in central Panama. By a stream in the hills of El Valle de Antón, this is land he knows well - his father bought it in the early 20th century and he spent three months each year here as a child. Passionate about preserving the natural setting and sharing it with guests, Arias de Para offers birding and natural-history tours, often featuring guest scientists. Other activities include zip-lining, horseriding, hiking and visits to mudbaths. Alternatively, you can settle into a chair on the observation veranda or bob about in the natural swimming pool. In the valley there is a restaurant by one of the best chefs in Panama, who closed her restaurant in the city to live there. Steppes Travel offers a seven-day Panama trip including four full-board nights at Canopy Lodge, flights, transfers and an introductory birding tour from £1,695 per person (steppestravel.co.uk
).